The present invention concerns ice dispensers and beverage dispensers.
Cold plates through which beverage flows to be chilled consist of blocks of aluminum formed in a variety of commercially accepted shapes. Contained within the aluminum block are a series of stainless steel tubes which serve as conduits for liquid. Typically, a cold plate is used as a cooling device by keeping ice in contact with a cold plate. The aluminum plate removes heat from the stainless steel tubes as beverage within the tubes is cooled. Typically, liquid enters the cooling plate in a noncooled form at ambient temperature as liquid passes through the tubing within the cold plate. The liquid which is usually under pressure in the stainless steel tubes is chilled so that, when it is dispensed, a maximum amount of carbon dioxide may be dissolved in the cooled liquid. The heat transfer between the warmer liquid and the cold plate naturally melts the ice contacting the cold plate. Fresh ice must be applied to the cold plate to ensure the quality of the beverages.
The present invention solves the problem of continuously supplying ice to the cold plate, where the ice is melted to chill the cold plate while, at the same time, providing high-quality hard ice to a dispenser to be mixed with the beverages when the beverages are sold.